Beet topper



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y` M. B. ANDRUS BEET TOPPER Filed April 6, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 lI-m E Aug. 2l, 1923.'.v

ANDRUs BEET TOPPER Filed April e', 1922 4 'sheets-sheet s ll I l l lllll IIIIIHHI 'Ilm @broma a j o Patented nw. 2li, i923.

ntLLAnn BURenss annees, or Daarna, Uran.

eine rorrnie.`

vApplication filed Aprill 6, 19%. Serial No. 556,075.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, MILLARD B. ANDRUS, a citizen ot' the United States, residin Vat Draper, in the county et Salt Lake and @tate ot Utah, have invented certain new and useful llinproveulents in Beet Toppers; and do declare the tollowing'to be a. i'ull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates beet pulling and topping machine and one object of the invention is to provide a ma` chine of the character described which is so constructed that it may be hitched be-v hind a conventional structure of'beet lifter which serves to loosen and lift the beets from the ground, the machine forming the subject matter et this invention serving` te remove the loosened and partially lifted beets from the ground and cut the beet tops from the roots.

Another objectI of the invention is to provide an improved type ot beet holding means 'which consistsv of a rotating wheel device having arms between which the beets are to be grasped and held while the tops are removed, each set ot these arms further serving to aci-,nate means for pressing a beet into' firm engagement with another set of arms.

Another object ot the inventionris to so construct this machine that each set of gripping arms may carry a knife for removing the beet tops. these knives being brought into engagement with a cam element as the wheel rotates and when in engagement with the cam element being moved to slice the beet root and thus remove the top.

Another object oi the invention is toprovide improved means tor removing the beet roots Jfrom the arms as thefwheel rotates.

Another object of the invention is to provide a beet puller and topper which will operate very vetliciently and will gnct be liable to readily get out ot order.

This invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a top plan view of the improved beet topper. n

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the same.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line .3 -3 of Fig. l and looking towards the rear end of the machine.

to an improved` Figure .tis a'sectiona'l view taken along taken along the line H8 8 oi' Fig. y2. Y

eure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view This improved vbeet topping machine is v to be connected at the rear ot a conventional structure of beet litter and is intended tol receive the beets after they have beenlitted from the ground by the beet lifter and after removing thetops from the roots, dro-p the roots upon the ground or into a suitable `receptacle which may be provided at the rear of the machine if so desired. This improved .machine is provided with a trame having side bars l and end bars 2 and 3. The end bars 2 and 3 carry strips 4 and 5 which ervtend longitudinally et' the 'trame and the side bars l carry bearings 6 so that the axle 7 which may be termed a main drive shatt may be rotatably mounted withl ther axle extending transversely of the frame and.

having its fend portions extending beyond the sides thereof to carry supporting wheels` 8. The axle will turn with the wheels when movino torwardl it bein(y understood that if desired a. conventional structure ot pawl and ratchet may be provided so that a turn may bereadily made. A driven shatty 9 is rotatably mounted in bearings 10 `carried by the strip 4 and one ot the side bars l and carries a sprocket wheel ll about which passes a sprocket chain l2 moved by means of' a Vsprocket wheel i3' carried by the main driveV shaft or axle 7. This drivensha'tt 9 carries a relatively large fgear-'wheel 14 which meshes with a Smaller gear wheel 15 loosely mounted upon the axle 7. This small gear wheel l5 is provided .with open- .ings Athrough which entend bolts 16 'which pass vthrough arhub disk 17 to'ianing part o t the beet-holding wheel. Sleeves 18 are mounted upon the bolts 16 .between the hub disk 17 and the sprocket wheel i3 sothat the gear 15 will be held in spaced relation to the beet holding wheel and in proper position for meshing with the large V'gear wheel 14. Upon the opposite side ot lthe hub disk 17 there has been provided a sleeve Q thus'be seen that when the machine is movingforwardly, the shaft i and sprocket wheel. 2O will turn in one direction, whereas the gear 15 and hub disk 17 will turn inan opposite direction and the beet holding wheel be thus caused to turn rearwardly instead ot forwardly. i

This beet carrying1 wheel is provided with radiatinp` arms 2l and 22 which are l'orined ot resilient material and have their inner ends secured to the hub disk and have their outer end portions extending' in diverging relation as clearly shown in Fig. lhlach ot the arms Ql'carries a knife blade 32E which is Vpivotally connectedV with a bearing bracket and isengaged by a springv 25 carried by an eye-bolt 26 which passes through the hub disk l?. butments '27 knives and limiting their swinging movementunder action ot the springs. lt is desired to have these knives swung 'trom the inoperative position shown in the lower portion of Fig. 3 tothe operative position shown at the upper portion of this iigure,

as the beet-carrying wheels rotate rearwardly and thus permit the tops to be cut from the roots ot the beets. ln order to do so, there has been provided cam plate 28 which is secured upon the strip 5 and is provided with a curved upper end portion. which will be engaged by the knives as the wheel rotates and will serve to swing` the knives against the action ot the springs 25. As soon as the knives move out' oi engagef ment with the camV plate, the springs will ret-urn them to the inoperative position.

ln order to carry the beets rearwardly into position tor engagement by the arms 2l and 22. there have been provided endless conveyors 30 and 29 which pass about the rollers 30 and 3l, the rollers 3l being carried by shatts C32 and 3Q which extend upwardly and carryY gears 33 and 33 meshing with Qcars 3l and 34T carried by a shatt 35.V rllhis shaft 35 is mounted in bearinejs 36 carried bythe strips 4i and 5 and carries a sprocte; wheel 7 about which passes a sprocket chain SS. rllhis sprocket chain ,3S passes around the sprocket wheel 20 and will therefore be seen that the shaft will be rotated from the vaxle when the l'nachine is in motion.v The shaft 32 passes through bearingariusl) ota hanger bracket 40 secured to the strip et and the other shatt 32V has Vits lower end portion positioned in a slot .termed in a bearing arm il at the lower end ot a hanger bracket 42. rlhis bracket 42vis provided Lwith an upper bearing arm Shaving a slot termed `therein in which is mounted a bearing la through which the shaft Q9 of' this conveyor extends. llt will v'means eta bracket e5.

l divero'ino relation.

are provided tor engaging' the cuttingk itlv Mears-e thus be seen that this shatt S2 may have movement towards and away Ytrom the other 'ot this sha'ltinieshes is keyed upon the sha'tt 35 tor sliding' movement and is held in engagement with its co-ogeratingg;v gear 33 by Brackets 45 Yare mounted upon the shafts 32 andl and carry arms V@Navlrich extend Ytorwardly Yin The bracket 46 which is mounted upon the shaft 52 carries rods 48 which extend through openings termed in the hanger bracket l2 and carry springs 49' wh ich enaage the hanger bracket and serve to vyieldably retain the forward endportion ot the endless conveyor '29 against movenient away trom the conveyor 29. The

rollers B() at the rear ends ol the conveyors y 29 and 99 are provided with shafts 50 and the shaft-50 being` journaledV-.in thev arms l'oit the hanger 4bracket 52 carried hy the strip t and the shatt 50 having` its end portion rotatably and slidably carried by the arm 53 ot the hangerV bracket 54.

Brackets 55 which are similar tothe brackets lo are carried by these shafts 50'and 50" a'nd carry a rearwardly extending V-shaped spreader 56 which is however directly isecured to rearwardly extending); arms 57 of the brackets. bracket mounted upon theshait 50 and eX'- tend through open ingjsrtorme'd in the hanger bracket Springs 5,9 are carried by these rods 58 and serve to'l yieldably retain the rear end portion ot the conveyor 29 against movement away trom the rear end'port-ion" oi" the conveyor 2,9. From' an inspection ot FigzlQ, it will be readily seen that` as the beet carrying wheel rotates the beet: engag-` ing arms 2l and 22 will engage the' spreader 5G as the)Y move upwardly and thearrns will thus be spread apart so that the beets which aremovinp; rearwardly can be 'forced into firm posit-ion Ybetween these arms. lAs soon as the arms move outot enga-gement with the spreader. they will tend to return to their normal position with respect to each other and the beets will vthus be verv `firmly gripped. Y I

Then the Vbeets are to be brought into position between the gripping arms. thev ioust be thrust between these arms and btiore they can be thrust between the arms,

they must be .moved between the strips There has therefore been provideda lever 60 which is iiivotally mounted by a sha't 6l. carried by bearingsr brackets G2 which entend upwardly from the strips il and 5. This lever is'curved as 'shown in Fig. 2 and has its lower end portion providedwith a hasp 63 to rotatably carry a roller 64. The upper end portion is provided with across bar 65 forl engagement by the armsQl and 22 and thiscross bar carriesl a stem 65 which eX- tends forwardly 'through an opening formed Rods 58 extend trom theV seen that the l'ieetsvat'ter being litted 'trom in a cross strip 67 and carries a spring 68. This 'spring GS which will serve Vto nor-A mally retain the leverl in a set position with the roller in position'to engageA the beets `when they leave theV rear ends of the con veyors 29 and 29. As the wheel turns, the arms which vhave passedout of engagement with thel spreader' and have a 'beet root clamped between them,v will engage the cross-bar G5 and will swing` the lever GO'so that the '.lo'wer end portion thereof will bev swung rearwardly. rEhe rollerwill engage a beetV which by this time will have moved out ot position between the upper ends ot the endless conveyors 29 and 29 and this beet will be forced rearwardly between the strips until'the beet reaches the ends of the strips'. ln the meantime, the arms below those which engage'the cross bar 65 will Ahave moved upwardly and will be spread apart so that as the wheel continues to rotate, the lever may force the beets into position between the arms 2l and 22 and then move out of engagement with the beets. The arms which are engaging the cross bar of the lever will then move ont of engagementwith this cross-bar and the springwill return the lever to the normal position. The arms between which the roller has been torc-y ing the beets, will by this time have moved into tight gripping engagement with the beets and the beet root will held in the position shown in Fig. 2 inoperative relation to the cuttinglnite so that when the cuttingr knizte is swung by the cam to the operative position, the beet tops will be severed trom the roots. After the beet top has been removed from the root,` it will drop npon the `freund but the root will be held by the arms until the arms move upon opposite sides ot the tapered removing element at the rear end ot the main trame ot the beet topper. This beet removing;- device which is indicated in general by the numeral 69 is provided with strips 70 which extend rearwardly in diverging relation as shown in Fig. l and have their ends rigidly mounted upon a rod 7l between spacing sleeves 72. rthis rod Il is carried by hanger bars 73 secured the rear bar 2 ot the main trame beneath the strips l and 5. lt will thus be the ground by the conventional striiicture of beet litter may be `guided between the torwardly extending :ir-111547 into position for engagement by the endless conveyors and by these endless conveyors carried rear wardly into position Ytor engagement by the lever 60 which will :torce the beets rearf warilly into positionbetween the arms o 'r' the beet carrying wheel so that this wheel may carry the beets upwardly and rearwardly f into positions to have the tops removed and then downwardly into position for engagement by the removing device 69 which will lremove the beetsv from Vbetween the arms 2l and 22 andpermit them to roll rearwardly andv drop `upon the'ground or into a suitable receptacle which may be pro` f vided if so desired.

l claim: y y y l. A beet topper comprising afirame, endless conveyors for receiving4 beets from theground and carrying the beets rearwardly, spaced strips extendingrearwardly from the rear ends the cenveyors spreader carried by seid strips; a beet er wheel' rotatably mounted and having" sets of resilient arms moved away from each other by the spreader' asthe wheel rotates, meansactuatedby said` wheel for ercinej beets t'rom the ronveyors between the strips and into position between spread armso't' the wheeh cutting blades carried the wheel'adjacent the arms,cam means i? moving the blades to cut the beet tops from vthe roots as the ,vheel rotates, and means 'for removing the beetrootsftrom Vbetween the arms as the wheel rotates.

2. A lbeet topper comprising a frame,

nie-ans tor receiving untopped beets and directing the beets rearwardly, a beet' carrier wheel rotatably mounted andhaving sets of resilient 'beet gripping'arms movable trans-- .ffersel'y ot'the wheel, means for:spreading t ie arms astlie-,wheel rotates, means actuated by each et arms for thrusting beets into' position between a, following set of' arms while the last inentionedfarms are spread, cutting means for removing beet tops while the roots are gripped between the arms, and means for removing beet rootsl means into position between the arms while* the' armsare heldspread, cutting` means earried by said wheel "toi-removing beet tops from the lroots as the wheel rotates, and

' means 'l'or removing beet roots from between Athe arms as tbe wheel rotates? l. A beet topper comprising; a "trame, means tor receiving' untopped beets, a beet .carrier wheel rotatably mounted and having resilient arms extending,Y radially in pairs tor gripping' beets, means AFor thrnsting beets from lthe receiving means into position between the arms, a cuttingblade pivotally connected with one arm oit each` 5. The structure ,of` claimj Qrhaving .the means for thrusting the beets intoplaee betwoenvtie arms consisting of a leververtieally disposed and pivotallyinounted and Vhaving at its lower end abeet engaging roller, the upper end portion being bent and extending rearwardly and terminating in a erossrhead for engagement by the armsI of the beet carrying wheel, Vand resilient` shaft, a beet carrying wheel upon the driveY shaft, -means for transmitting rotary movement rfrom the drive shaft to the driven shaft, means moving the beets from` the eon-' veyor means Yinto enga-gement with said wheel, meansl for removing the beets .from the -Wlieel after the tops' are removed.

TKA beet topper comprising a frame,A

means for receiving beets from the ground `and conveying theV beets rearwardly, a. drive shaft, a beet Carrying wheel havinga hub loose upon the shaft', resilient arms radiating from the hub in pairs, means for moving beets from the beet Conveying` fm'eans into engagement with the resilient' arms, a gear wheel loose upon said shaft connected with'saidhub to one side thereof, a gear rigid upon the shaft, a gear rotatably mounted and meshing with the gear carried Vby the hub, a gear to one side of the lastV mentioned gear Yand rigid therewith andA meshing with thegear rigidfupon the drive shaft, a cam Carried by said frame, knife blades pivotally carried by certain of said arms and movedto an operative position when engaged with said cam, and a root receiving structurehaving a taperedend portion extending to engage beets and remove the beets from the arms as the wheel rotates.

8. A beetfi-topper comprising. a Yframe, means for receiving uiitopped beets, a earrier wheel :rotatably mounted and having.V resilient arms for gripping beets, means for,

thrusting beets from the receiving means into position between` the arms, ,cuttingV ymeans carried by the Wheel for removing the beet tops from the roots asthewheel t rotates, and means for removing roots from between the arms after the tops liaveibeen removed. Y Y I ln testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

MiLLAnnBURGEss Annees.

toY 

